Asoka Jayaweera, Sydney Hettiarachchi, Raja Makuloluwa, Asoka Dissanayaka, Derwyck de Zylwa
University of Ceylon Rugger team 1964
Copy of a newspaper article
On Saturday the 7th of July some 50 plus
members of the Medical Batch of 1960 will be celebrating their 53rd Anniversary
at The Jetwing Lagoon in Negombo. This batch is unique in the history of medical
education in Sri Lanka in that for the first and last time 275 students were
admitted to the medical faculty in Colombo in September 1960. Many readers
would ask “how come such a large intake was possible then, whereas not more than
180+ are admitted to any one state medical faculty in this day and age? Three
hundred were admitted as a result of a government decision after the 1959
University Entrance / H.S.C. common exam, to scrap the then 1st year (1st MBBS) which was spent in the Science Faculty of the University of Ceylon. Thus some
150 of us who had spent 1959 doing a “ridiculous” truncated 1st MBBS
year at the Science faculty were admitted along with 150 “direct” entrants to
the Medical Faculty in September 1960 constituting the “300” batch.
Initially it would be worth recalling how the Medical
Faculty (there was only one medical faculty then in the Island) coped with this huge number. There was no
lecture theatre capable of accommodating such a large number. Construction of
the The “New” Anatomy Lecture Theatre was completed only when the batch reached
its third year. This “New” Anatomy Lecture Theatre is now no more having been
demolished to accommodate a large new complex which is yet to be finished. The
students were divided into two batches and while one had lectures in the
morning the other half had practical classes and vice versa. Thus the work load
for teachers as well as support staff doubled overnight. As far as I can recall, some additional
lecturers were recruited for Anatomy and Physiology but no support staff. We
the batch have to be thankful that at that time the Staff both academic and
non- academic did not agitate nor even complain about the increased work load.
I am not sure whether there even were trades unions for academic and
non-academic staff at the time. If there weren’t any we have to thank God for
it! Attendance was compulsory at
lectures and each student had to sit in the assigned seat in aphabetical order.
So those seated on either side remained the same for much of the course at
lectures. Constantly being next to one another did result in some being coupled
for life! When it came to tutorials, and ward classes and clerkships in our
clinical years the groups were extremely large. Some groups had to do their
“professorial” appointments in our third year. All of these would now be considered
unsuitable as per present guidelines / criteria for an MBBS program. Yet succeed
we did thanks to the efforts of our beloved teachers. Those days there were no
multi-media, no E boards, no slide projectors and if I recall even an overhead
projector was a luxury. It was all 'chalk and talk' and it was left to the
pedagogical skills of our teachers, some of whom used the vast expanse of a
black board, that often extended the whole breadth of the lecture room most
effectively like in an anatomy lecture to impart knowledge to us.
The Batch may have been unique in more ways than one.
We were 'ragged' a second time. This too with official sanction by order of, rumor had it, the
much-feared Sir Nicholas Attygalle who was Vice Chancellor at the time, for a
misdemeanor committed by some of our batch during the Law – Medical cycle
parade. The Rag then was a pretty innocuous affair with the seniors having some
fun at the expense of us freshers. The writer remembers being ragged by those
whom he had known in School or those with whom he was already playing rugby as
he had spent a year in the Varsity being a part of the 1959 intake. In those
good old days, elections for office in the Medical Student’s Union unlike for
the main Union at the Thurstan Road campus were not politicized. One of the batch now a retired Surgeon was
nominated from “The Bottle Party” and was elected to The Medical Student’s
Union! In our days we had study groups from within the batch. The groups were
made up of those with similar interests and often school backgrounds unlike today
where I believe “Kuppis” or tuition and part indoctrination sessions by one or more seniors is the fashion.
In 1965 some 290 odd graduated in two batches in March
and July or August. For those doctors who graduated much later, medical
students and others interested reading this, it should be said that according
to the curriculum and examination rules and by-laws, if a student was not able
due to illness or other legitimate reasons to sit the regular 2nd
MMBS exam in our case held in December 1961, he / she still missed out and
graduated later resulting in a loss of seniority in the health service. This
was because not long after graduation we were given our internship
appointments. One of those thus affected was a member of the well-known singing
duo at the time the J- brothers. Later this younger brother Geri went on to
become a well know surgeon and Professor. The batch was also unique in that we
had an extended period of internship – 3 months beyond the 1 year. This I
believe was to enable post-intern appointments to be made for the whole batch. There
was no GMOA to protest such a decision by the Ministry of Health. Some of us used
the extra 3 months to do a third specialty by exchanging positions by mutual
consent. There was no official “Merit List”. It was assumed that the top
performers got internship in Colombo if they so wished and also the opportunity
to choose who they would like to intern with. In our graduating year, the Government
decided to bring in a rule that there would be a five-year period of compulsory
govt. service at the end of the internship. A few skipped out of the country choosing
to do their internship in the United Kingdon as the Ceylon M.B.B.S. degree had
full recognition by the General Medical Council of Great Britain. Most others
sent in an application for GMC registration soon after the end of internship
and became fully registered with the G.M.C. No sitting the PLAB or equivalent! Certainly
the standards were very high and also the vast majority of students were quite competent
in English. Our teachers not only staff of the Faculty but also the Clinicians
who imparted their knowledge to us to whom I’m sure we all are grateful are too
many to name. A few among them come to mind, like Prof. C.C. de Silva, and Dr.
Drogo Austin who used to entertain every batch clerking under them to a dinner
and in Dr. Austin’s case an 8mm film of wild life taken by him. Dr.
P.R.Anthonis was well known for his generosity in doling out money to students
in need of text books.
There have been vast changes in both the pattern of
disease and the way medicine was practiced then compared to now. While we were
in clinical training, Polio was still very much around and at The Lady Ridgeway
Hospital there was a “Polio ward” with the huge machines hissing away. These
were called “Iron Lungs” and helped the patient whose muscles were paralysed to
breathe. It was probably in our 3rd or 4th year that
Prof. Sabin the discoverer of the first oral Polio vaccine, visited The Faculty.
Prof. Sabin was most impressed with a question asked by one of our batch who
went by his abbreviated name Ooyir. His full name was a real tongue twister
Ooyirlangkumaran..
It was not “all work and no play” many among the batch
were topflight sportsmen and include the Double International Buddy Reid who
excelled in table tennis and cricket. The P. Sara trophy winning team of 1963
had among its members Buddy Reid, brothers Carlyle and Travis Perera; Chandran
Ponnambalam who was a National basketball player and Keerthi Makuloluwa who
represented Colombo clubs in rugby. Many others played for the Varsity in
Rugby, Hockey, footbal etc. Buddy continues to excel in Veterens T.T. and I
hear just the other day he won a Gold medal and a Bronze medal in the over 75
year category World Championships in Las Vegas, U.S.A.
Despite the large groups at clinical classes etc., the
members of the batch have significant contributions to Medical knowledge and
medical practice both here and abroad. At least 10 went on to become Professors
many here in Sri Lanka and some overseas. A very large number obtained U.K.
postgraduate qualifications quite a few returning to Sri Lanka and some ending up as consultants at The National
Hospital while many others served with distinction in hospitals in the U.K.
Quite a large number are in U.S.A. and almost all without exception have done
their residency training successfully distinguishing themselves. Yet others
have ended up in Australia and New Zealand doing equally well. Some have been honoured for their services in
the countries of their residence. Others have authored textbooks in medicine
and books of interest. Space limitations does not allow me to mention them all
in detail.
The late Sarath Kapuwatte who was the mainstay of The Organizing
Committees for all the previous batch reunions was a doyen of Rugby in Kandy
having contributed enormously to Kandy Sports Club becoming a rugby powerhouse.
Those interested in knowing more about the batch should read “Remembered Vignettes”
–Bay Owl Press 2008 by Phillip Veerasingam.. Philip is not only a reputed
surgeon but a great storyteller and writer of several books and articles of
interest. His article in the Ceylon Medical Journal - https://cmj.sljol.info/article/10.4038/cmj.v47i2.3458/galley/2825/download/ and was of immense
value as it suggested some aspects of intrigue within the Royal family - more
importantly it was probably the first clinical description of tetanus-even the
effects on the autonomic system when these were not known to man. Philip
is an avid photographer too and helps maintain our Batch Blog site - http://1960medicalbatchcolombo.blogspot.com/ and several blogs on
Birds (of the feathered kind) in Sri Lanka -
http://photosofbirdsofsrilanka.blogspot.com/ and http://philipv203.blogspot.com/
A.S.D
